Wushan Museum

Wushan Museum

Wushan Museum is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

Wushan Museum is located at the confluence of the Wu Gorge of the Yangtze River Three Gorges and the Little Three Gorges of the Daning River in Wushan County, Chongqing. It is built on the former site of the Wushan Normal School. The museum broke ground in September 2009 with a total investment of 40 million yuan, covering a total land area of 8,334 square meters and a total construction area of 13,300 square meters. It houses over 40,000 cultural relics, including more than 1,000 classified as precious. The collection spans artifacts from over 2 million years ago during the Paleolithic Age to various relics from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The museum is fully equipped with functional facilities such as storage rooms, exhibition halls, restoration studios, leisure plazas, and parking lots, and is recognized as a national first-class county-level museum.

On December 1, 2012, Wushan Museum officially opened to the public and offers free admission to residents and tourists from home and abroad. Visitors can see up close the 2.04-million-year-old hominin tooth fossils from Longgupo in Wushan, learning about the long and rich history and culture of the region.

Wushan Museum features one permanent exhibition, two thematic displays, and one temporary exhibition. These mainly include “Wushan, Wu River, and Wu Culture,” “Relics Along the Long River,” and “Spiritual Mountains and Graceful Scenery.” The exhibitions highlight regional cultural features such as the Longgupo Culture, the Daxi Culture, and Wu Culture, reflecting the remarkable achievements in the rescue and protection of Three Gorges cultural relics. The Yangtze River Three Gorges is one of the cradles of humanity, boasting a very long history and splendid culture. With the completion of the Three Gorges Project and the reservoir filling, large-scale rescue excavations have been carried out in the Three Gorges reservoir area, especially around Wushan, unearthing a large number of highly valuable relics. These include tomb objects unique to the Wushan area of the Three Gorges, as well as exquisitely crafted gilded bronze coffins that are distinctly characteristic of the Wushan region.

Wushan Museum is a non-profit cultural and educational institution dedicated to collecting, researching, and exhibiting the historical and cultural heritage of Wushan and material evidence of the human environment. It serves as an important cultural landmark at Chongqing’s eastern gateway. The opening of Wushan Museum holds great significance for the study of the history and culture of the Three Gorges region, particularly the Wushan area.

Further Reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China